1) Sustainability Problem (Energy): According to the World Wildlife Organization, “aviation is one of the fastest-growing sources of the greenhouse gas emissions driving global climate change.” It is also the largest individual contributor to the carbon footprint and is exponentially higher than any other source. Reducing consumption would be one of the quickest ways to reduce pollution caused by aviation; however, that is unlikely to be a viable solution that would be widely implemented. Companies are now looking at alternate sources of energy. Although there is a long way to go in this type of technology, there are some initial efforts that look bright.
2) Technology Summary: The Cassio
- VoltAero is developing a series aircrafts known as The Cassio; the plane is a hybrid electric aircraft that can fly for 800 miles that fits 4-10 seats. They have concluded over 40 hours within 70+ flights with the demonstrator as they continue to test out the hybrid-electric Cassio.
- The CEO stated that he is looking to develop a plan that uses a hybrid configuration which differentiates from current all electric technology in development. This would allow to use existing hardware.
- A hybrid model would provide a second layer of security allowing for a second source of energy to always be available; a purely electric component would require a lot of battery and would potentially limit the distance the aircraft could go.
- VoltAero has signed a deal with KinectAir which would have VoltAero developing the technology while KinectAir would develop the necessary uses and infrastructure to implement the new technology. These types of partnership will become more popular as development of hybrid and electric airplanes grow.
3) Stakeholders: Stakeholders involved would be manufacturers (ex. VoltAero), distributers, charter companies (KinectAir), and eventually flight customers.
4) Implementation
- Testing, testing, testing – continue to test the plane for efficiency and safety
- Research the market for these planes and what potential further partnerships are available
- Modify existing blueprints and project growth of the aircraft
makeasmartcity 
Hi, thank you for sharing. I like that this article holistically captures the recent aviation developments being announced across the world. I just wrote my article this week about a 19 seat regional electric aircraft in France but with a different partnership between two other companies. You mention that this partnership is unique in that it uses a hybrid configuration instead of pure electric. I never thought about it this way but researching more about your article it makes sense why this would be a great backup in case anything goes wrong. However I wonder if it’s worth it to completely invest in electric power rather than having a second source of energy to depend on. And whether this would be sustainable if the partnership wants to expand into expansive international travel.
uni: ts2934
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